The Hero of Life and Destruction
by Representing-My-Sinnamon-Rolls
Summary: When Ash was betrayed by those he loved, he disappeared from the world. Five years later, an Aura Guardian wielding the legendaries of Life and Destruction shows up at the Master's Tournament, looking for revenge and finding love. Advancedshipping, AshxMay, SatoshixHaruka, YveltalxXerneas.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello. I was reading an Ash betrayed fic named The Betrayed One's Return by Ejennings167 and was inspired to write one of my own! You should seriously go read that, it is smazing and I readily admit that Betrayed fics are like my virtual catnip (seriously I go wacky over that ish, just ask Danaril, ma best unicorn). So voila! Here is my own betrayal fic! I gave it a few added twists.**

* * *

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own pokémon, they own us trainers. Seriously, they get us to carry them around, feed them and they only have to do one thing for us in return. Kinda like a cat, aint it?**

* * *

A cloaked man sat on the edge of a cliff, overlooking a beautiful yet strange view.

Directly below his cliff was a sandy desrt, a sandstorm whipping around and concealing the dark figures of ground type pokémon. To the left of that was a lush forest full of flowers and trees to rest in and under, chock full of grass and bug types. Several dark and ghost types hid in the darkest areas.

To the right of the desert was a huge lake with plenty of waterfalls. Many water types played in lakes, flying types soared overhead and a few psychic and fighting types meditated under the clear, crashing waterfalls.

Several more fighting and psychic types occupied two rocky, rugged mountains along with a lot of rock and steel types with a few ground types, behind the desert. The man knew that deep in the heart of the mountains was a heated core where many fire types chose to rest. That was not to say that those types spread to those specific areas, there were plenty mixed around the regions, such as electric types in both the forest and mountains, where there were various electrical items scattered around, brought there by one of the man's own pokémon.

A flash of turquoise light appeared next to the man, whipping his dusty brown cloak around and revealing hints of red and blue clothing. The man took his hood off, revealing a shock of raven hair and ice blue eyes, ringed by chocolate brown. His skin was tan and he had strange z-shaped birthmarks on his cheeks, along with a long healed scar running from his left temple to the corner of his mouth.

He looked up at the teenage girl, now standing next to him in the place of the blue whirlwind of light.

Whereas the man looked around nineteen, the girl was around seventeen. Her long, cream hair was waist-length and she had two antler-like accessories on either side of her head, both with orbs of every colour of the rainbow spreading out fron the main part. She wore a white knee length dress with the top turquoise and the sleeves curving out. There was a cream arrow shape in the middle of the turquoise, beginning st the bottom.

She wore white elbow length gloves edged in cream around the sides and on the front. She was wearing boots almost the same, only there was not any cream at the front. The man stood as she bowed respectfully, holding his gaze with her turquoise eyes, her pupils x-shaped.

"Good morning, Master Ash. I trust the wild pokémon are well?" She asked in a kind tone.

Ash nodded. "Yes, although mating season has just arrived so there have been several rights between the males regarding the females." He replied. "I trust your mate is doing well, Xandi."

Xandi smiled fondly. "Yes she has. Very fine, indeed." She said, blushing madly.

Ash grinned then, ruining his stoic composure immediately. "I always figured Yvonne would be good. Her long claws, correct?" He asked.

Xandi's ivory skin showed tomato. "I do not feel comfortable discussing this with you, Master!" She yelped. Ash laughed in return.

"Sorry, I don't mean to make you feel uncomfortable. I was just wondering how you two do it. " he apologised.

Xandi calmed down, shaking her head. "Perhaps you should find a mate of your own, Master, and stop regaling me with strange questions. " she suggested.

"If it took you over nine hundred years to find a mate, imagine how long it'll take me on this island. There are not even any humans here!" Ash replied, waving his arms in the air.

Xandi shook her head. "There are bound to be females in the upcoming tournament. Perhaps you could find one there." Xandi suggested.

"There is no way that I will date one of the clueless trainers likely to enter." He said, before whistling. A massive charizard flew over to the pair from over the mountains. It swooped low under the cliff and Ash grabbed Xandi's wrist, pulling her eith him as he jumped off, landing on Charizard's back and pulling Xandi up behind himself.

* * *

"He was such an idiot, don't you think? Running around ranting about wanting to be a stupid 'Pokémon Master'!" Max said, pulling faces. Everybody at their table laughed, asides from three. May, Dawn and her new boyfriend Paul were the only ones not in on their old friend's betrayal and were infuriated as soon as they heard of it. They would have all turned their backs on the traitors, but, sadly, Max was May's brother, and May couldn't leave him. He was practically brainwashed by those jerks! Dawn and Paul stuck with May for moral support.

May tried to ignore all of Max's jibes at **him**, but he had gone too far. May _might_ have also just started her period, so, uh, yeah... She was a little agitated.

"Max, stop being such a little brat! You think that **he** sucked, but look at you! You are far weaker than he ever was!' Max shouted. She gasped and clutched her left cheek as a sharp SLAP left a violent red mark. Misty seethed, glaring at May.

"Shut up you little *bleep*! You say that Ash was better than Max, but where is he? Probably dead, or in jail dropping the soap and getting ass*bleep*ed by frickin Giovanni!" The redhead said spitefully. May stood tears in her eyes and ran, knocking her chair over in the process. Dawn and Paul called after her but she ran blindly, not seeing the strangely dressed woman in front of her until it was too late.

May went crashing into the girl and they would have both fallen over if it wasn't for the girl catching May. Sadly, she was also crushed to her rather developed chest.

May spluttered for a few seconds before finally being released. May studied the girl closely.

She had short, shaggy white hair with two blade-like shapes sticking out in front and strange white patterns on her tan face starting underneath her bangs, trsiling down both cheeks and down her neck, disappearing into her collar-like smoky purple scarf. She wore a short red dress with long sleeves that started a third into her upper arms, attached to the neckline. The sleeves were white on top with a diamond pattern matching her scarf colour and a red underside with a thin white pattern, much like the ones on her face that finished half way down the sleeve in a Y- shape. Her sleeves covered her hands completely, like a strange glove, with long white claws.

The white pattern extended from the middle of the Y, over her dress neckline and went down to form another Y on her actual dress part. The end of the Y went down all of the way to the botoom of her short skirt and seemed to continue down the the long back of her dress, shaped like her sleeves including the white claws. She wore red knee high boots with white laces and three claw mark smoky purple patterns on each foot. Her eyes were a pupiless light blue without any sclera.

The girl started to glare down at May, but her eyes (May presumed, it was really hard to tell) strayed to her cheek and she calmed down.

"Oh, your cheek... What kind of sick *bleeeeeeep* would marr such a beautiful young girl's chekk like that?" She asked. May blushed.

"Nobody in particular. It will probably heal by tomorrow. "May babbled. The girl waved her hand in front of her face.

The girl glared once more snd May shrunk back timidly. "Do not lie to me, I can tell that that will probably leave a bruise. Follow me, my abilities do not allow me to heal people other than myself, but Xandi and Master should be able to clear that up just fine!" She said. May was a little leery about following a strange girl she didn't even know the name of. The girl spoke as if she could read May's mind. "My name is Yvonne, by the way. What do they call you?"

"May. I'm May Maple." May replied. Yvonne smirked and wrapped a extra long arm over May's shoulder.

"I am glad to know that you are aware of your own name, May Maple. Shyall we go?" Yvonne asked. May nodded mutely and Yvonne smirked once more. She draped a soft sleeve arm over May's shoulders and lead her away.

* * *

May flinched at the cold of the ice pack as she pressed it so her hot, inflamed cheek. She soon sighed at the soothing feeling of her cheek cooling down, then blushed as the man Xandi and Yvonne called 'Master' moved from leaning against the wall to sitting next to her on the bed Xandi and Yvonne slept in together.

"Now that you have that, would you care to tell us who gave you that mark?" He asked. May looked down, clenching the thick strap of her fanny pack.

"It was... nobody." May said. She got the feeling that if she told him it was Misty, he would kill her. Or at least put her in hospital.

Xandi sighed and put her arm around May's shoulder. "May, are you being bullied? Abused?" She asked softly. May gasped.

"No, nothing like that! Really. She was just angry that I yelled at my brother like that..." May said in Misty's defense.

"Well, I don't think that Misty Waterflower has any right to do that. Not to memtion, your brother is a jerk." Master said matter-of-factly. May glared at him.

"If you knew, then why did you ask me who did it?" May aaked angrily.

Master smiled reassuringly. "I wanted to get a judge of what you were like, what was happening between you and those others. It sounds like bullying to me." He said.

"It's not me getting bullied. I don't like them, they don't like me." May said.

"Then why do you hang out with them?" He asked. Xandi and Yvonne slipped out, giving the two some privacy.

"For my brother. He may be a jerk, but they made him that way." May blushed. Why was she opening up to a guy she hadn't met before or even knew the name of? He seemed so familiar, as if she had known him a long time...

"I see. Are you staying with them?" He asked. May shook her head.

"No, with my friend Dawn and her boyfriend Paul." She replied. Master smiled in a curious manner.

"That won't do, if they are dating. They probably want some privacy, what if one of them wins an important match and the other wants to... reward them?" He asked May giggled.

"Then I would have my innocence destroyed. Is that why you sleep in a separate room to Xandi and Yvonne?" She asked.

"You picked up on that, then? Have you guessed why they call me 'Master'?" He ssked humorously.

"You their pimp?" May joked.

Master shook his head. "Not close. Have you seen the way they dress?"

May nodded. "Yeah, they dress sort of like pokémon. Xandi even has a **tail**! Wait, you're not saying that..." May said, jaw open. Master nodded.

"Yes, they are pokémon. Both extremely rare, so they disguise themselves as human." He said, holding out two luxury balls, obviously belonging to the two.

"So what pokémon ate they?" May asked.

"Yvonne is a shiny Yveltal, the legendary Destruction Pokémon of the Kalos region, and Xandi is a shiny Xerneas, the legendary Life Pokémon." He explained.

May's eyes widened immensely and she dropped the ice pack, dropping it onto her lap and leaving a dark patch on her pale denim shorts. "How did you manage to catch them?" She asked.

The man chuckled and picked up the ice pack, holding it against May's less swollen cheek. "They came to me and asked to go with. I was going through a rough time, Ihad just been attacked by the people I thought were friends and mybest friend and partner had been killed. Xandi came first and helped heal my cheek, you know, my scar, and then Yvonne came. They asked to go with me and I accepted." He explained.

May could have sworn she saw a tear in his ice blue eye, but he shrugged and stretched. "So, what is your name, then?" May asked.

Master shrugged and handed her theice pack, lying down on the bed and putting an arm over his eyes.

"Guess." He said lazily.

"I'll know tomorrow when the tournament starts." May said smugly.

He smirked. "No you won't. I'm using an alias." He said equally as smug.

May whacked him violently with a pillow. "Tell me your alias, then!" She yelled, placing her ice pack back over her red cheek.

He shot up. "Fine, just don't kill me! Call me Aaron!" He cried out. May giggled, looking at the size of his arms under his clothing.

"I doubt I'd be able to kill you, Aaron." May said, laughing.

"I bet you'd be able to seriously hurt me." Aaron stated.

"Nah, you'd-" she was cut off by the loud growling of Aaron's stomach, followed close behind by hers. They both blushed, then laughed.

"Want to go get something to eat? I'll pay." Aaron asked.

May nodded. "I'd love to."

* * *

May couldn't stop fiddling with the cold gel bag strapped to the side of her face by Nurse Joy. Other than that, she was having a great time with Aaron, eating ramen in a small Japanese noodle bar. Aaron stuck a chopstick on either side ofhis mouth, grinning boyishly, May giggling at his jokes.

Aaron quickly removed the chopsticks from his mouth as a shadow fell over the table.

May grinned at Dawn, holding Paul's hand. Paul was wearing his usual scowl.

"How are you feeling, May?" Dawn asked. May stuck her thumbs up.

"I'm feeling great. Well, beside this freezing cold thing on my cheek." May replied. Aaron coughed and May jumped. "Oh, right, this is Aaron. Aaron, these two are Dawn and Paul, the friends I was telling you about." May introduced.

"Care to join us?" Aaron invited.

Dawn shook her head a little too fast. "No need to worry! We were just passing by, right, Paul?" Dawn turned to her boyfriend, elbowing him.

"Right," He said gruffly. "We'll see you later, May." He said. May blushed, poking her fingers together.

"Well, actually, I won't. Aaron has a dpare bed in his room, so he invited me to stay with him to give you two some privacy." May said shyly.

Daen grinned slyly. "I see, I see! Well, seeya!" She said, hugging May tightly and whipering "Thank you" repeatedly in the older girl's ear.

As soon as thet left, Aaron laughed.

"That's what I call opposites attract." He said cheerfully. May blushed and nodded in agreement.

* * *

**So, I fully admit I adore Ikarishipping snd Advancedshipping. Advancedshipping is my fave Ash ship, followed closely by Amour. Please review!**

**~Jinseiwakurai-Shouganai, signing out!**


	2. Chapter 2

Ash groaned as he woke to being shaken roughly. "Mmm... Yvonne... Five more minutes." He moaned, turning back over and closing his eyes. He heard the shaker move around to the other side of the bed and shake him again.

"Aaron! You only have three hours until your match!" He heard a girl's voice that definitely didn't sound like any of his female pokémon shout. His eyes burst wide open and he jolted up.

And then clutched his head at the resulting head rush. "Ugh... Good morning to you too May..." He grumbled.

He looked up to see the girl fully dressed. "Morning, Aaron. Xandi told me to tell you that she and Yvonne went down for breakfast." She said.

"May, you look a bit red... Are you feeling ill?" He asked, concerned by the red spreading even further across her cheeks.

* * *

**A little while earlier**

* * *

May woke to a soft shaking. "Mmm... Dawn... Ten more minutes." She moaned, turning over. The covers were pulled roughly off of her and she squeaked, falling onto the ground with the heavy covers falling on top of her.

"Yvonne, that was a little harsh, don't you think?" She heard a soft voice ask.

"You know how Master is. If she is even a fraction of how he is then she would have carried on sleeping through it all." She heard a louder voice say back.

May groaned, fighting her way out of the heavy white duvet. "M-morning, Xandi and Yvonne." she grumbled, sitting up.

Yvonne smirked and Xandi smiled softly. The shorter of the two extended a hand to pull May up. "Morning, May. I am very sorry about Yvonne. She likes to play rough sometimes." Xandi apologised.

Yvonne scowled. "You don't seem to mind it when I play rough with _you_." She said slyly, stroking the other girl down the spine.

Xandi shivered, blushing madly. "Y-Yvonne! Not in front of the young ones!" She scolded and May laughed.

"What's the time?" She asked.

"Eight thirty. Master's battle is at twelve thirty, so he only has four hours to get ready. He can prepare in three so wake him up in a little please?" Xandi asked sweetly. Yvonne crossed her arms over her chest.

May was confused. "Where're you going to be?" She asked.

Yvonne smirked and clasped Xandi's hand, holding it up for emphasis. "We're going on a little breakfast date." She said proudly. Xandi smiled at her mate.

"Yes, would you please inform Master of that when he wakes? I do not want him worrying..." She said sweetly.

May nodded. "I'd be happy to!" She replied honestly, waving as Yvonne eagerly dragged the fairy type out of the room.

She glanced over to the second bed in the room, a lump under the duvet and a shock of ebony hair poking out accompanied by loud snoring the only other sign of life in the room. Aaron reminded her of... **him** in the shape of his face and the length of his eyelashes. Actually, if she thought about it,, he looked quite a bit like **him**...

May shook her head, dispelling the thoughts. She knew it was stupid to think those kind of thoughts. He was gone and was _never _going to come back.

With that depressing thought lingering in her mind, she grabbed her backpack and took it with her to the en-suite bathroom where she had a long, luxurious shower, changed into her spare set of clothing and brushed her teeth in the space of forty minutes. She groaned at her knotted hair (barely loosened by her apple and tea tree conditioner) and spent the last twenty minutes fixing her hair and then tying it in her hair band ( A/N she is dressed like the ORAS remake May, only her hair is not so sticky-outy and is minus the Mega Bangle). She glanced at herself in the mirror, then up at the clock mounted above previously stated reflective surface.

She clipped her fanny-pack around her waist and set to wake the sleeping beauty that was Aaron. Which brings us back to before.

May blushed as Aaron sat up, his duvet sliding off of his upper body to show a rather toned chest, flawless save for the thin scar running from his navel to his right hip.

"May, you look a bit red... Are you feeling ill?" He asked concernedly. May blushed even more, stuttering to think up and excuse.

"N-no, it's just... Is it hot in here?" May stuttered, then fanned herself with her hand, acting as if she was overheating. Aaron stared at her in confusion.

"Riight." He stated suspiciously before swinging his legs off the side of his bed, stretching and clad in grey sweatpants.

"I'm... Just gonna go change, 'kay?" He asked. May nodded, attempting to look anywhere but his chest.

Aaron grinned at May and she smiled back shyly, before he grabbed a large black backpack she hadn't noticed before and headed into the bathroom she had previously occupied.

* * *

Aaron and May walked into the cafeteria, the former with confident strides and the latter with more hesitant ones. She knew her brother and his friends would be there. Aaron wasn't wearing the concealing cloak of yesterday, but instead the modern day version of an Aura Guardian's uniform, complete with a hat.

Close to the door sat all of her 'friends', minus Dawn and Paul, who were sitting at a table farther back. They all glared at May and Iris and Mist stood up from the table, walking towards the two. May heard Aaron sigh next to her as the girls sneered at May.

"Wow, May, I never thought you were such a slut." Misty said.

"Yeah, what a whore, May." Iris insulted, acting as Misty's 'back-up-bitch'.

May blushed a bright red and Aaron glared at the two girls even deeper than he previously was. "I do not think I like what you are implying." He said, causing the two girls to sneer even more.

"Boo hoo, prick. Tell me, does May suck you off as good as she sucks at contests?" Misty asked crudely. May went even redder and Aaron growled slightly, pushing the humiliated girl behind him slightly.

"I wouldn't know. Perhaps I should ask the men at your table the same question of you two?" He asked formally. Iris and Misty's mouths gaped open like a magikarp's.

"You take that back!" Iris shouted. A giggle sounded from behind the two and May looked up to see Xandi and Yvonne holding hands behind Mist and Iris.

The two whirled around to see Xandi's pleasantly smiling face accompanied by Yvonne's darkly smirking one.

"What's so funny?" Misty asked.

Xandi giggled again. "I simply find it amusing that you have asked Master Aaron to return one of his questions." She replied.

"Why is that so funny?" Iris asked. May was beginning to understand what the girl was getting at.

"Well, you two of all people must realise how an insult _can never be returned_... Surely?" Yvonne asked derisively, smirking at the shocked faces of the two girls.

"What do you mean by that?" Misty yelled.

"You know what she means!" May said, finally speaking up.

"Wha? How do you-" Iris began.

Aaron closed his eyes. "Sometimes people do not have to be told things to know." He said wisely and May nodded in agreement.

"That doesn't answer anything and you know it!" Iris cried. May's vision tinted red in anger.

"Why would we answer your questions when you wouldn't answer any of his?" May asked coldly.

Xandi and Yvonne pushed a livid Aaron out of the way. Xandi placed a hand on his shoulder and Yvonne one on May. "Hatred breeds destruction." Xandi said calmly.

"Who asked you, slut?" Misty spat out.

With a growl, they didn't have a chance to stop her as Yvonne held a long, slender white claw at the surprised girl's jugular. "I suggest you and your little furfrou trot on over to your little _friends_ and stay away from Xandi or I may do something that Master Aaron will surely scold me for." She said lowly, her dark tone causing May to cringe. She didn't have a doubt that those things were sharper than razors. May swore she could almost smell the scent of urine in the air as the two turned tail and ran back to their table like a couple of poochyena (read their Emerald pokédex description).

May then noticed everybody staring at them.

"Don't they have anything better to do?" Aaron asked May loud enough for the witnesses to begin talking to one another again.

A heavily blushing May lead Aaron over to a staring Paul and Dawn as Xandi and Yvonne walked back over to their table, tucked in a corner where May could tell they could see the entire cafeteria, Xandi scolding Yvonne the entire way. May just knew that those two were perfect for eachother.

As she and Aaron sat down Dawn spoke up. "That was awesome, the way you stood up to those two -bleep-s! I've been trying to get you to do that for _month_s!" She squealed.

"Good morning to you, too." May said, blinking.

"Yeah, good morning, Dawn, Paul." Aaron said, smirking.

"Morning." Paul said gruffly, repeated by a more subdued Dawn.

With that out of the way, Dawn perked up once more. "I had no idea you were an Aura Guardian!" She said excitedly.

"You're an Aura Guardian?" May asked, turning to the suddenly embarrassed Aaron.

"Uh, yeah. It's nothing, though. Really." He said modestly.

"Is that why your friends call you 'Master'? What is with those two, anyway?" Dawn asked.

Aaron looked relieved to get the topic off of his aura. "You mean Xandi and Yvonne? They're... Dating. Engaged, actually. As you can tell, Yvonne is extremely over-protective."

"So you're saying that they're lesbians?" Paul asked, bewildered.

"They prefer the term 'gay'. They think that lesbian sounds too alien." Aaron said, as if rehearsed. May giggled.

"How many times did they drill it into you?" She asked.

"A lot. Yvonne is terrifying when angry." He said sheepishly.

"We noticed." The other three said in unison.

Dawn and May looked at each other, then burst into a fit of giggles.

"So, when did you two start dating?" He asked Dawn and Paul. Who immediately looked at each other as if some unspoken agreement was passed across.

"It just happened." They said together. May looked aver to Aaron who gave them a bland look.

"Sure it did. And I can transform into the legendary mew." He said, making Dawn blush brightly.

* * *

**DISCLAIMER: I only own the rights to my own life. Actually, not even that! That belongs to Dannii-sama... *Wiiiink***

* * *

**Readers of my other fics can tell where I got that reference of my last line from, nya!**

**OHMYGOODNESS! How many follows, faves and reviews?! Thank you all so much! I love you all! In a completely platonic way, of course.**

**'Cept for you, Onee-san. *wink*.**

**Please continue to show your support and even submit an OC! I have slots for roughly five, so the first five interesting ones will get a part in the fic. You can even submit more tan one, if you are feeling cheeky. Here is a template:**

**Name:**

**Age:**

**Gender:**

**Height:**

**Hair colour/style and eye colour:**

**Clothing:**

**Pokémon:**

**Personality:**

**Special abilities:**

**Special notes:**

**The battling starts next chapter! Don't forget to check out my other fics, and fans of Teen Titans can check out my newest fic, Who is She?**

**I love you all my dahlin's!**

**~Jinseiwakurai-Shouganai, signing out!**


	3. J'adore Derek Andropopgeopanatakis!

The crowd was cheering, deafening May's ears.

She sighed, bored of the match that was taking place between a guy named Riku and a fan favourite called Josh. She rolled her eyes, realising that the overly flirty Josh was about to have his ass whooped by a trainer only on his first two pokémon, a female Umbreon and Raichu.

She found it hilarious how the crowd was still cheering on Josh's name, the girls especially, when his final pokémon was about to faint.

"Umbreon, use Psychic! Raichu, Focus Blast!" Riku shouted, cinching the victory as Josh's Rhyperior fainted. The crowd was silent for a couple of seconds as the referee gave out his verdict before cheering exploded throughout the stadium, the girl next to May cheering the loudest for Riku Akitsuki.

The audience dispersed as the two trainers left the battlefield (Josh acted more maturely than May expected him to, maybe he wasn't such an annoying flirt after all).

Only a few people stayed for the second battle, including May and the girl next to her. May sighed and rested her arms on the railing in front of her then laid her head down on them, bored as the ref announced that there would be a twenty minute gap before the next battle, but didn't leave as she waited for her friends to arrive.

"You didn't look very excited during that battle." The girl next to her said. May turned and looked at her quizzically.

The girl blushed. "Oh, right, I guess I didn't introduce myself. The name's Tia Hanson." Tia introduced.

Tia looked around fourteen with red hair that curled delicately to her neck with one blue eye and one brown. She was wearing black cargo shorts with a violet long sleeved top underneath a white short sleeved hooded jacket along with black boots.

May smiled at the younger girl. "Hi. I'm May Maple," She introduced.

"Nice to meet you, May. Why do you look so bored?" She asked. May shrugged.

"My friend is battling next and I've been waiting for the past three battles." May moaned. Tia smiled sympathetically.

"I know how you feel. My friend is making me watch all of the battles after his. You may have seen him. He's the guy that just won." Tia consoled May.

"You're _friends_ with Riku? No wonder you were cheering so hard when he won." May said, grinning. Tia blushed a bright red.

"You have it all wrong, I swear! Riku definitely doesn't see me that way." Tia said, slightly down at the last part. May shook her head, eyes blazing.

"Let me give you a little tip: if you like him, tell him! You will never know when he may just disappear from your life." May said in an almost-shout, making the people left look up at the two in confusion.

"I'm guessing you speak from experience?" Tia asked. May nodded.

"Yeah. Five years ago, my best friend was attacked by his supposed 'friends' and suddenly disappeared from my life. He had a really bad wound, so I don't even think he's still alive anymore." May admitted, a tear dripping down her cheek.

Suddenly Tia hugged May out of the blue, making her jump. "You said that his body wasn't found, right?" Tia asked. May nodded. "Well, then! There's still hope, so cheer up!" She said, making May laugh.

"Thanks, Tia. You're sweet." May thanked, grinning at the girl. "I know! I'm going to help you get your friend to tell you his true feelings!" May said happily, clapping her hands.

Tia blushed scarlet. "May! I told you, Riku doesn't like-" She was cut off by a guy's voice behind her.

"Riku doesn't like what?" Riku Akitsuki asked, leaning his head between the two girls. Tia turned a bright red and seemed lost for words.

"Oh, she was just saying how you don't like sprouts. I was just saying that I think they're sadly underrated." May interjected coolly, smiling slightly. "The name's May, by the way. May Maple."

Riku jumped over the back of a chair, settling next to Tia. "I'm not even going to ask why you were talking about my dislike of sprouts" He said, shaking his head.

May could definitely see why Tia like him. He was quite tall, with honey blond hair and green eyes. He was wearing a long sleeved white t-shirt with a shorter sleeved black one over the top and had ripped blue jeans tucked into black boots with red laces and also wore a black beanie.

"The name's Riku Akitsuki." He said, stretching an arm behind Tia's chair. The cogs in May's head began to wind and she knew that she just needed to get her new 'project' to confess their feelings to one another.

"I know. Congratulations on winning, by the way." May said, grinning.

"I see you have made some new friends." Said a soft woman's voice behind May. She turned to grin at Xandi and Yvonne holding hands.

They settled themselves in the seats next to May as the stadium began filling up with more and more people for the next match.

"Hi, Xandi, Yvonne. These are Tia and Riku. Shouldn't you be-" May was cut off by Yvonne.

"It is a two on two battle. Master is not going to need us." She said, hooking an arm around Xandi's waist.

"What she means is, it is lovely to meet you, Tia and Riku. I heard of your battle, well done." Xandi said in a scolding tone.

Riku rubbed the back of his head. "Heh, it's nothing, really." He said modestly.

"Ohh, but it was! The only one able to use a dark type so efficiently like you did is my master, and you can say that, well, his dark type is... Extra special and not very easy to handle." Xandi said, not looking away from her girlfriend, or, in this case... Mate.

"Oh, you..." Yvonne said, going in for a very long kiss while the three humans stared in a mixture of disgust and unwanted fascination.

May cleared her throat and Xandi pulled back, blushing. "My apologies for making you witness that. Yvonne does not seem to know the boundaries of, what do you call it... Ah, right! PDA." Xandi apologised, bowing deeply.

Yvonne rolled her eyes. "I know about it, and I still don't care." She explained haughtily.

"So, I'm guessing you two are together?" Riku asked.

"Yes. Have you got a problem with that?" Yvone sniffed.

Riku shook his head. "No way. I have a couple of friends who are... Yeah..."

"Are you and miss Tia together?" Xandi asked sweetly, appraising the two.

Tia blushed a bright red. "N-no!" She exclaimed, leaning away from Riku as much as possible.

Yvonne chuckled as Xandi giggled at the pair's antics.

"I see, I see. Just friends. That's what Xandi and I said when we first met, about... How long ago was it, honey?" Yvonne asked, nudging her mate.

"Must have been around nine hundred years..." Xandi replied, gazing up at Yvonne with adoring eyes.

Riku and Tia laughed, probably thinking it was a joke.

"Sorry we were late, Troublesome wanted popcorn." Paul apologised gruffly as he and Dawn sidled into the seats next to the resident lesbians.

"Tia, Riku, meet Dawn and Paul. Dawn and Paul, meet Tia and Riku. They're _just friends_." May introduced, making quotation marks at the 'just friends' part. Tia was about to protest when May spoke over them. "Shush! Its starting!" She said, as if at the cinema.

Xandi clapped excitedly whilst Yvonne smirked.

**"Welcome to the second battle of the first round! In the green corner, we have Derek Andropopogeopanatakis from Oreburgh City in the Sinnoh region!" **The announcer began, stuttering over Derek's last name. The audience laughed as a hassled-looking young boy ran in, blushing madly and holding his too-big glasses to his face.

Some pitying people in the crowd slowly clapped, May and her group being some of them, the claps picking up as the guy took his glasses off and wiped the lenses on his shirt, straightening and grinning nervously.

"Unfortunate surname..." Yvonne whispered to Xandi, who gently hit her arm in scolding.

**"And in the red corner, we have Aaron Arlon from New Island in the Kanto region!" **The crowd responded with quiet titters as they asked each other if they had heard of it. Which they hadn't.

The crowd cheered loudly as Aaron walked onto his corner, giving the unfortunately-surnamed Derek a smile. This seemed to relax Derek, who grinned back as the ref said the rules, which most ignored anyway.

"Battle, begin!" The ref called.

Derek called out his two pokémon first, soon followed by Aaron.

"Empoleon, Primeape, go!" Derek called, sending out his two pokémon in a burst of surprising strength.

"Lucario, Infernape, may the aura be with you." Aaron stated as his casually sent out his two fighting types.

All four pokémon looked poised to battle, exuding sheer power. It was obvious that Derek Andropopogeopanatakis was stronger than he let on.

"I'll let you have the first move." Aaron called across the field. Derek nodded in thanks.

"Empoleon, use hydro pump on Infernape, Primeape, Close Combat on Lucario!" Derek called.

"Infernape, use Mach Punch! Lucario, counter Close Combat with Bone Rush!" Aaron called out.

Infernape dodged past the jet of water, fist glowing with power as he punched Empoleon, sending it flying back.

Primeape sent a flurry of fists towards Lucario, who materialised two bones out of aura, blocking each attack, until Primeape managed to send a swift kick to Lucario's stomach, sending him flying back before getting up, only panting slightly, unlike Empoleon who was bent over, sweat dripping from it's forehead.

"Infernape, Flamethrower on Primeape, Lucario, fire a barrage of Aura Spheres at Empoleon." Aaron commanded.

"No! Primeape, defend Empoleon!" Derek called out, panicking.

Primeape, however, was distracted defending hisself from Infernape, and Empoleon was knocked over by the super effective move. The referee waited for a couple of seconds before calling out his verdict.

"Empoleon is unable to battle, Derek Andro...Popo...Geo...Uh, whatever it is down to only Primeape while Aaron Arlon still has both of his pokémon!"

Derek sweatdropped as he recalled Empoleon. "It-it's Andropopogeopanatakis..." He murmured. "Fine, then. Primeape, it's up to you! Use Earthquake!" he called out, obviously pulling out his big moves with only one pokémon left.

"Infernape, Lucario, take it, then use Flamethrower and Bone Rush together." Aaron called and his pokémon grunted, coming out of the quake with several bruises.

Infernape then sent out a Flamethrower as Lucario threw out his bones, becoming engulfed by fire. They hit Primeape dead on and he was flung back, unconscious.

"Primeape is unable to battle, which means that Infernape and Lucario win and Aaron will move on to the next round!" The ref decreed and the crowd screamed, May shouting the loudest.

* * *

**Time skip **

* * *

"Great job on your battle today, Aaron. I kinda felt sorry for poor Derek." May congratulated.

"Yes, Master. That Derek was not a match for you." Xandi complemented.

"I still say you shouldn't have held back." Yvonne said, shaking her head. Xandi nudged her in the ribs and Yvonne went in for a swift kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks, I guess..." Aaron replied, confused.

"We'd get it done in two seconds, obviously. A little Oblivion Wing on my part, Geomancy on my love's and that Derek wouldn't have seen us coming." Yvonne sniffed.

Xandi smiled softly at Yvonne. "That would be too harsh on the young boy." She said.

"I don't know. Derek actually looked rather strong. You can see it all the time in gyms. The gym leader makes himself look weak so that you underestimate him, and then he goes in for the kill." May inputted.

Aaron mulled it over. "Like Whitney in Johto? How do you know so much about gyms, anyway? I thought you were a coordinator."

May blushed and scratched the back of her neck. "My dad's... Kinda the gym leader of Petalburg City." She admitted.

"You're Norman's daughter? You're so lucky that your dad is so strong." Aaron said.

"Not really. Everybody expects me to be, like, super-strong. It sucks, because my brother also expects the same thing..." May moaned.

"It's better than everybody expecting you to be no-good..." Aaron murmered, and May realised that she might have struck a nerve.

"Sorry." May apologised.

A small figure in the distance came closer and clearer, revealing himself to be a young man. As soon as he spotted Aaron, he got extremely excited and walked quicker, pointing a finger in Aaron's face.

"Hey, I know you!" He said excitedly. May blinked.

How did _Gary Mother F***in' Oak_ know _Aaron_?

* * *

**Sorry about taking so long to update! I have school, then three hours a night of revision and also volunteering and I just haven't found the time to even go on a computer! I'm kinda in school right now, so, uh, sorry.**

**This was the first full battle scene I've really written, so tell me what you think!**

**~Jinseiwakurai-Shouganai, signing out!**


	4. Chapter 4

Aaron was nearly cross eyed as Gary pointed his finger in the poor guy's face. For some reason, May thought that he looked panicked. "You do?" Aaron asked, confused. Or was that scared...? May mentally shook her head, dispelling the thought as it began to take root in her mind.

Gary nodded excitedly."Yeah, you're Aaron Arlon! You were the one who gave me all that research data. It really helped, by the way." He said, smiling.

Aaron smiled. "And there was me thinking that you had found out my terrible secret. It's nice to finally meet the famous Professor Gary Oak." He said, then held out his hand, which Gary took.

"It's been a while, May." Gary said, holding an arm out for May to hug him.

"Almost three years. How's it going?" May asked. Gary seemed excited.

"It's going great. My research has come really far in the past year." He said. Yvonne cleared her throat and Xandi gave her a scolding look.

"Oh, right. Gary, meet Xandi and Yvonne. They're my _assistants._" Aaron introduced, emphasising the last words in a way that May knew was an inside joke.

"It is a pleasure. Aaron, I saw your battle. you did great." Gary complimented.

"That Derek guy was quite difficult. I had to come up with a strategy on the spot. I haven't done that in a long time." Aaron said modestly.

Xandi could see that May was beginning to feel a little lost, so she suggested that the girls go look at some more battles. Of course, May quickly accepted.

* * *

As soon as May was gone, Gary decided to speak up. "So when are you going to tell her?" Gary asked casually. Ash cocked his head, feigning ignorance. "I know it's you, Ash." Gary explained, and Ash sighed.

"How'd you figure it out?" He asked, amused. Gary smirked and draped and arm around Ash's shoulders.

"I grew up with you, Ash. It was obvious. Why did you leave, anyway?" Gary asked. Ash's eyes bored into his.

"You know what happened. There were too many bad memories." Ash admitted.

"So you ran away, just because some people said and did some bad things? Your mom thinks you're dead, Ash." Gary scolded. Ash rolled his eyes.

"It's better this way." Ash said.

Gary grew irritated at the bonehead in front of him. "Better for who, Ash? You or your mom?" He almost yelled, grabbing Ash's upper arm.

Ash stared into Gary's eyes coolly. "Both of us." He simply stated, shrugging Gary off. "The way I am now, she wouldn't even recognise me if she looked at me from a centimetre away."

Gary let go and scoffed. "Maybe we should put that to the test." He said.

Ash narrowed his eyes. The unnatural blue that had replaced his former brown sparked dangerously. "You wouldn't even dare." He growled out.

"No, I wouldn't. All I ask is that you think of her." Gary stated.

Ash sighed. "Since when did you get so deep?" He asked, smiling slightly.

"Around the time when you got so bitchy." Gary replied. Ash laughed.

"I take that back." He joked. Gary slapped a hand on his back.

"Ow. You've really been working out." He commented.

Ash smirked at Gary. "You like?" He asked, waggling his eyebrows. Gary grinned back.

"You may as well just take the 'r' out of my name." He replied, leaning in close.

"We may as well just call you Gary 'Father f*****g' Oak." He joked, leaning back. "I'm kidding. I already have too many gays on my hands. Without having to add you."

Gary smirked, seeing his opportunity. "Not to mention a girlfriend on top of that." He stated.

Ash gazed sharply at Gary. "I'm afraid I do not know what you're talking about."

Gary shook his head. "Dense as ever."

* * *

"So, May. What do you think of our master?" Yvonne asked, slinging an extra-long arm over both of 'her' girls' shoulders.

Xandi smiled encouragingly at May. "Yes, please tell." She said.

May blushed slightly. "Is this really necessary?" She asked.

"Yes." Xandi and Yvonne said in unison.

"Well, I think he's nice, and-" Yvonne cut her off.

"And you _lurve _him. And wanna kiss him. And repeat what Xandi and I did last night." She said teasingly in a sing-song voice.

May looked disgusted. "I heard what you were doing last night. I _definitely _do not want to repeat that." She forced out, her spine crawling at the memory.

Xandi smiled softly as she recalled the memory.

"Don't knock it until you try it, kid." Yvonne advised sagely.

May's nose crinkled. "Tell us how you really feel about him." Xandi said soothingly.

A girl came up behind May, smirking. "Yes, tell us how you really feel, delicious." She growled out in May's ear.

May shuddered before jumping up in the air, screeching.

Yvonne laughed and Xandi suppressed a giggle. May whirled around, gasping for air.

The girl waved. "Hi." She had silver hair that reached down to her mid back and had brown eyes so dark they almost appeared black.

"Ah, Moon darling, you're here." Xandi greeted.

"Yo! What is going on with my two favourite lesbians?" Moon asked.

"Hot, sexy stuff."" Yvonne replied.

"Does she-" Yvonne cut Moon off.

"Know that we're two sexy pokémon? Yes."

"Kewl. So, who does she really feel about?" Moon asked.

"Master." Xandi and Yvonne said in unison.

"I don't-" May began.

"She does." Yvonne finished. Moon grinned.

"Well, good for him. He's always such a loner!" Moon congratulated, hugging May.

"I only just met the dude!" May eventually got out.

Moon stared at her with serious brown eyes. "How can you be so sure?" She asked.

May was taken aback and Xandi and Yvonne looked panicked.

Moon then grinned. "I'm just kidding!" She exclaimed happily.

Xandi and Yvonne sighed in relief, Xandi with a hand over her heart.

"Oh, okay then. So how do you know Aaron?" May asked.

Moon barked out a laugh. "Aaron? Is that what he's calling himself now?" She asked.

Xandi nodded. "Yes, it is. And we would appreciate it if you would not go sharing _all _ of his secrets." Xandi said reproachfully. Moon smirked. Xandi then turned to May. "Moon is an Aura Guardian, just like Master. They trained together." She explained.

"Well, until he got too good for us! He's a surprisingly good learner, for someone so impatient." Moon confided.

"Ah, excuse me!" A nervous voice said behind the group of girls, and they all parted for none other than Derek Andropopogeopanatakis.

"Thank you!" He squeaked out and raced away. The girls all stared after him.

"Wasn't that the guy who battled Sir... _Aaron _earlier?" Moon asked. May nodded.

"Yeah. I wonder why he was in such a rush." Yvonne said.

"Probably seeking a lost lady love." Xandi commented, smiling.

Yvonne wrapped her arms around her fiancé and gazed lovingly into her eyes. "Kind of reminds me of when we were younger, and newly realising that we were in love..." She mumbled and Xandi smiled wistfully.

"It does, does it not?" She whispered back, then tip-toed up to wrap her arms around Yvonne and plant a kiss on her love's lips.

May and Moon looked at one another, smiling faintly at the romantic scene.

"You'd think that after 30 odd years that they'd act like less of a teenage couple and more adult..." Moon commented.

"I think that it just shows how much they belong to each other." May replied fondly.

"All joking aside, I have never seen you and Aaron together, but maybe you and he could be like that one day. If Xandi and Yvonne believe it, then it will probably happen." Moon said insightfully.

Xandi and Yvonne parted. "You know that we are able to speak for ourselves, yes?" Xandi asked.

"Moon just put it more eloquently than we could, is all, dear. How about we head back to our rooms and wait for Master to return?" Yvonne assured Xandi.

"You are welcome to join us, Moon." Xandi invited.

Moon shook her head. "Nah, I'm getting a little hungry right now. Tell _Aaron _that I expect him to come see me _alone_, though." Moon said, then departed.

"What is Aaron's real name, anyway?" May asked the two pokémon curiously. They both shook their heads.

"You will either have to figure it out for yourself or wait for Master to grow a pair, May." Yvonne said.

* * *

"Hey, what's going on?" Ash asked as he walked into his room, where May was sat on her bed petting Glaceon. Ash smiled fondly at the pokémon, but feigned ignorance of her.

May looked up, and Ash thought that he could spy signs of tears on her cheeks, but he couldn't be sure. "N-nothing." She stuttered.

Ash was certain that she was crying then and pulled out a handkerchief from the pocket of his uniform, blue and red instead of the usual blue and black.

He settled beside her and put an arm around her shoulders gently, handing her the blue square with a pokéball in the corner.

She sobbed and wiped her eyes, looking up at Ash with blurry eyes and red cheeks.

He quickly looked away, his own cheeks tingeing slightly pink. He reached out a hand and rubbed Glaceon's head.

"Want to tell me what's wrong?" He asked concernedly.

May laughed bitterly at herself. "Just bad memories, is all." She admitted, shaking her head.

"Well, what brought them on?" Ash asked, knowing not to ask about the memories specifically. They brought on enough nightmares without hearing them all over again.

"Nothing, I just... Here..." May eventually got out, handing Ash half of a ribbon.

This brought back good memories for himself, and mentally cursed himself when he accidentally let out a small breath of fondness. He tried to play it off, feigning ignorance but knew that May saw right through him.

"What's the matter?" She asked, her breath hitching slightly. Ash smiled a boyish smirk and peered up at May with eyes he knew that she would barely recognise.

"Its nothing, an old friend of mine had a ribbon like that before." He said, hoping to send her off-track with that one sentence.

May grew excited, like he knew she would. "You did? What was his name?!" She cried out energetically.

Ash pretended to look shocked. "Well, he didn't really tell me his name. Besides, I haven't seen him in years."

Oh, boy was that true. He really hadn't seen that happy-go-lucky, brown eyed kid in five years.

May deflated. "Oh, I see." She sighed, then wiped her cheeks.

Ash handed her back the ribbon half and smiled. "I'm sure you'll find him eventually." He assured her, wrapping her fingers around the ribbon.

She already has. Though people change in five years.

Some more than you might like.

* * *

**Hello again. I thank you all for the OCs and although I have only chosen five, and only introduced three, I am grateful for all of the contributions.**

**And dem follows! Not to mention favourites! I am so sorry that I neglected to update in so long.**

**What do you think Derek was doing that put him in such a rush? Hint: Something to do with an OC in my newest fic, a rewrite of my second oldest fic.**

**Follow, favourite and review if you feel nice enough!**

**~Jinseiwakurai-Shouganai, signing out.**


	5. Chapter 5

Ash shook his head, smiling fondly as he left the forest from his most recent midnight training session, his closest friend walking beside him.

**"Master," **The Lucario began, breaking the companionable silence between the two.

"Hmm?" Ash replied, his thoughts slightly elsewhere. Lucario moved to stand in front of him, cutting off his movements. "What? I'm listening!"

**"Master, do you not find that it would be much easier if you told Miss May the truth?" **He asked.

Ash sighed. "It isn't that easy, Lucario. I think that it's better if she never found me, to be honest." He admitted.

Lucario raised a brow. **"Is that why you invited her to share a room with you?"** He asked.

Ash coughed and didn't reply, opting instead to edge around the steel type and continue walking.

**"Master, I am loathe to repeat a phrase so common with Yvonne, but I really do believe that you need to... 'Grow a pair'." ** Lucario stated.

Ash stayed silent for a couple of minutes before breaking down and bursting into laughter. "Lucario, you really shouldn't quote Yvonne. It doesn't suit you."

Lucario smirked. **"Although her language may be crude, Yvonne brings up several valid points." **Lucario said, shaking his head.

Ash looked away and Lucario left it at that.

* * *

May was rudely awoken for the second time that week. It was only Tuesday. Needless to say, she wasn't happy. For half an hour after she was awoken by Aaron slamming the door behind him, she simply scowled at the far wall, her eyes bleary with sleep.

In the end, she simply flopped back, curled up and shoved her pillow over her head in an attempt to get some more sleep.

A plan that was foiled when a cold nose pressed against May's cheek, nuzzling into her skin. May groaned loudly and threw her pillow to the side where it _thumped _against the window and slid down. She sat up and scratched behind Glaceon's ear. "I'm up!" She mumbled.

* * *

May had just finished tying her shoe laces and was putting her hair band in when a loud knock sounded on the door.

"Who is it?" She called out, finishing up and walking to the door.

"It's Aaron. You decent?" Aaron's voice called out.

"Wha? Yeah, come in." She replied and opened the door, surprised as he walked in and flopped to the floor, pulling a large bag from under his bed

"Sorry if I woke you up earlier, I had to quickly answer a call." Aaron apologised, unzipping the bag.

"Where's-" May began, but Aaron cut her off.

"Xandi and Yvonne? They've gone off on their own for a bit." He finished.

"A-are those _pokéballs_?" May asked as she bent down to get a good look at the bag's contents. There had to be at least fifty in there, if not more.

"Yep. All mine, all from home." He said absently, rooting through them.

"But-why?" May asked. Aaron shrugged.

"They wouldn't let me leave without them." He said, then held one up to the light, smiling. He then placed it to his right side and moved on. He rooted through a bit more until he found a second, then put it next to the aforementioned pokéball, zipping the rest back up.

"Is that your team for the next match?" May asked. Aaron nodded.

"Mmhmm. It is in five hours, so we really have to train hard." He explained before grabbing his chosen two and standing.

"Really? Do you mind if I watch? " May asked in excitement.

Aaron looked at May with a serious expression mirroring that of when May first met him. "No, sorry. You'd probably get hurt. " He replied, kicking his bag back where from whence it came.

May frowned in disappointment and Aaron softened. "It isn't that I don't want you there. If it wasn't these two training and some of my other ones, then..." He started to explain before trailing off. May nodded in understanding.

"Don't worry about it. I'll just hang out with Dawn until you're done." May assured Aaron and he visibly relaxed.

"Oh, that's good then. I'll be back around one. Do you want to get some lunch? I'll pay." He offered. May jumped at the chance to get some free food and planned to take full advantage of Aaron's wallet.

"What time is it now, then? "

"About eight. I better get training, really." Aaron said, sighing dejectedly.

"Oh, okay then. Have fun."

* * *

May kicked a can angrily. She had gone to see Dawn, she really had, but didn't want to intrude on the new couple so she left only half an hour later. Dawn and Paul were too sweet to stand for much longer than that.

"What happened to your boyfriend, May? He dump you already?" Max's annoying voice called out behind May. She whirled around, fire dancing in her blue eyes. Max was by himself, but you wouldn't know it by the conceited pose that showed that he was showing off.

"We aren't dating!" May cried. Max simply smirked in triumph over angering his older sister.

May had to keep on repeating, 'ignore him' over and over in her head as she turned around, walking away.

Max growled and grabbed May's wrist, tugging her towards him. "He's not Ash, you know."

May sighed. "He said he saw Ash a couple of years ago." May admitted. Max softened.

"Look, I know you probably hate me for all the mean stuff I've been saying, but I don't really hate Ash. I don't hate you, either. I just really wish you would see that he's dead." Max begged.

"If you really thought that Ash is dead, you would have said that you _didn't_ hate Ash, not that you don't." May said. She had learned a lot from Xandi constantly scolding Aaron about his grammar at dinner.

Max looked down at his feet. "I just feel like he would hate me for what I've been saying about him." Max admitted, May knew that that was the closest thing to an apology that she was going to get, so she did something that both would later deny ever doing. She pulled him into a tight hug.

Max stood still for a few seconds before eventually relenting and hugging her back. He had grown a couple of inches but was still only sixteen where his sister was nineteen, so he came a couple of inches short, reaching May's nose.

When they eventually let go, May looked at Max seriously. "I really miss him." He admitted and May smiled.

"Max, everybody who actually cared about Ash misses him." May assured her brother. Max smiled and May knew that she had finally got her brother back,

* * *

"You're joking, right? Gary, please tell me you're joking." Ash begged of his friend. Gary leaned back on his seat, shaking his head.

"No can do, Aaron-boy, she- you know, Aaron-boy doesn't really have the same ring to it as Ashy-boy did. Do you mind if I keep on calling you Ash? Aaron's cool and all, but it doesn't have the teasing potential that Ash does."

Ash sighed. "Gary, my name's still Ash. Aaron's just an alias. As long as nobody actually hears you call me Ash, then it's cool. Now what's this about you bringing my _mother_ to the tournament?"

"Gramps is coming, so your mom's coming." Gary shrugged. Ash glared.

"That doesn't even make sense." Ash groaned.

"Boy, you have really missed out, hold up on New Island or wherever you've been. Gramps is going a little senile, so your mom is taking care of him. He's been asked to come by the _champion_. And where Gramps goes, your mom goes. Simple." Gary casually informed Ash, picking at his nails.

"You really are gay, aren't you?" Ash asked. Gary simply laughed. If you think that _I'm_ gay, you should take a look in the mirror.

Ash bumped his shoulder roughly into Gary's. Gary bumped back. It escalated from there into a full-scale tussle only stopped by Xandi arriving and breaking up the mock-fight.

"Ashy, I am telling you that you absolutey _have_ to see your mother. You know she'll recognise you as soon as she watches you battle, freaky eyes and ugly scar or not." Gary beseeched of his friend.

"You must be straight. No gay guys or straight girls can resist the bad boy look that the scar brings." Ash joked.

"And _you_ are stillavoiding the actual topic of discussion."

Ash sighed. "Fine, I promise that I will go see my mom. Tomorrow." Ash promise.

Ash could swear he saw Gary turn into a monster in his anger. And not the pocket kind, either. "Ash, go see her today. Otherwise, you'll jut torchic out."

Ash crssed his arms over his chest and looked away. "Fine, but _you _are the one who's gonna have to find an excuse to tell May why I'm late for our lunch-_meeting." _

Gary leaned in close with a sly grin on his face. "Were you about to say date? Why don't you just tell your GF along with your mom that you're sill alive?" Gary suggested.

"Why don't spoink just up and fly?" Ash suggested.

* * *

Delia Ketchum had experienced a lot of heartbreak in her life. She had first experienced it when she was a teenager, still out on her journey. She had gotten the call when she was preparing for a gym. Her mother had died.

Her second heartbreak had been when she met the boy of her dreams. Then he left her to get stronger. That boy eventually became the champion and a good friend.

The third big heartbreak of her life was when she found out her now ex-husband's dark secret.

The fourth and biggest heartbreak was living to see her only son die, or whatever happened that day in Unova. She was sure the uncertaincy was slowly killing her. She looked down at the small pokémon in her lap, a scar running down his brown striped back, She knew the uncertaincy was killing him, too.

A knock sounded at the door to the joint hotel rooms that she shared with Samuel Oak and his grandson.

The esteemed (and rather senile) Professor Oak Senior stood up from his armchair amid numerous protests from his carer and walked over to the hotell room door to open it with shaky hands.

"Why, Bue, m'boy, it has been awhile. You seem to have grown even younger! And you have brought some new friends. Tell me, are you a boy? Or a girl?" Oak greeted.

Delia heard Gary's downtrodden voice reply, "No, Gramps. It's Gary. My friend here really wants to see Ms Ketchum. Oh, uh, by the way... I kinda forgot to mention something. It was going to be my trump card but, well, you gave in so easily."

Delia's head jolted up as she heard one of the new people speak.

"Gary, could you please shut up? I'm beginning to get a headache from your consistently annoying voice." A girl complained.

"What Yvonne is very crudely trying to say that it is lovely to meet you, Professor Samuel Oak." Another woman said in a softer tone.

Although it was deeper, Delia would recogise that voice anywhere, even on the moon **(A/N Probably not, you can't hear anything on the moon, much less breathe. Don't pay attention to Sailor Moon kids, you would probably die of hypothermia) **

"Gary, what didn't you tell me?" The newcomer asked. The pokémon on Delia's lap stirred and twitched an ear in curiosity. Delia quickly lifted him up and put him on the arm of her chair, standing to get a better look as the young man pushed his way through the people to face her.

Delia's heart thudded with joy as she gazed at the man her son had become, but put her hands on her hips as she scolded him. "Young man, you better have an explanation about why you just disappeared without a trace for five years!" She scolded. She watched as her not-so-little pokémon Master shrank back from his mother's fear and softened, pulling him into a hug and stroking his hair.

"I do, mom, but it would probably take an entire chapter of a crazed fangirl's weird yet strangely popular fanfiction to explain."

* * *

**Two more follows to 100, baby! Whoohoo! **

**I am sorry, Muzafarmansoor97, for not updating on Christmas as you requested, but, well, family and stuff. I updated this as fast as possible and I dedicate this chapter to you. And my mom's awesome BlueTooth keyboard connected to her tablet. And Frozen, that largely directed this chapter's central theme: Family.**

**But mostly to you, Muzafarmansoor97.**

**Anyways, tell me what you think, my loyal followers, everytime I look at my follows and faves I am taken back by all of the positivety! Seriously, without you, I wouldn't be able to arry on.**

**I hope you have wonderful holidays, whatever you celebrate and wherever you live.**

**~Jinseiwakurai-Shouganai, Signing Out!**


	6. Chapter 6

Ash grinned as he saw Misty and Brock in the distance. "Hey! Over here!" He shouted. They turned with slight, almost forced smiles.

He and Pikachu shared a look, but then Ash shrugged and continued forward.

"Hey, Ash!" Misty said perkily and Ash relaxed, but couldn't completely shake off the sense of _not-rightness _and could feel Pikachu tense up on his shoulder.

"Long time no see!" Ash said, ignoring the feeling and fist bumping Brock.

"Yeah, I guess." Misty replied, with just a hint of something _not-right _in her voice.

"So what are you doing here, anyway?" Ash asked in a bid to shake off the nagging voice in the back of his head repeating 'not-right' over and over.

"Well, I didn't have any of my training course today and Misty here didn't have any challengers at the gym so we decided to surprise you with something." Brock explained. _Not-right._

Ash tried to shove the voice down and grinned in excitement. "Cool! Where?" He asked.

Both Brock and Misty shared a little look, almost unnoticeable by a normal person.

Apparently the voice wasn't a normal person and the chant of _not-right _got higher, the words beginning to blur together_. _He blamed that weird glowy red tree.

The effort of shutting it up was starting to give Ash a headache and Pikachu looked up at him with worried brown eyes. Ash ruffled his fur.

"It's just a little into the woods." Misty assured sweetly.

* * *

"This is not just a little into the woods!" Ash moaned, his head now pounding with the _not-right_.

"Stop complaining!" Misty almost-yelled, then pinched the bridge of her nose.

"We're here, anyway." Brock said quietly as they walked into a clearing.

Pikachu started growling, his cheeks sparking and Ash picked him up, worried. The shouting in his head was getting to screaming at that point and he wondered if Pikachu could suddenly hear the same thing.

"What's wrong, Pikachu?" Ash asked, looking around. All he could see were sticks and a couple of rocks, one of which had a faint blue glow in the middle of a crack.

Pikachu calmed down a little as Ash followed his friends into the clearing, then ran over to the rock.

The voice quieted down a little as Ash ran his finger down the crack. It felt warm, almost too warm and Ash called over the two as they neared, the glowing faded away and the voice came back in full force.

__NOTRIGHTNOTRIGHTNOTRIGHTNOTRIGHTNOTRIGHT__

"Did you see that? The rock was glowing!" Ash said, pointing to it. Misty and Brock both sighed and shook their heads.

"You were probably just imagining it, Ash." Misty said.

"Was not!" Ash retorted.

"Oh, would you stop being such a little kid, Ash?" Another voice said, walking out to meet them.

"Wha-Iris? What are you doing here?" Ash asked. The voice in his head calmed down and a different voice started to softly weedle its way in.

Iris shrugged. "Well, my train broke down, so I decided to just come and see you!" She said brightly.

__Don't listen to her, Ash. Her explanation's-__

"Not right." Ash muttered, finishing the voice's sentence.

Iris looked confused. "I'm sorry, what?" She asked, giving off a forced smile.

Ash looked up. "You're explanation. Its not right. Where's Cilan?" He asked. It was beginning to dawn on him.

"What do you mean?" Iris asked, trying to twist her face into a confused and innocent one.

"Cilan. He called me a couple of days ago and told me something about losing you in Saffron before you took the magnet train. Seriously, what's going on?" He asked.

Both voices joined in together and Ash had a flash of clarity as he noticed Misty's gaze flicker over to Pikachu.

_It's not right. Their intents, they're all wrong! _

_So much destruction..._

_One of you will lose your life..._

_Run, Ash!_

"You just aren't worth it any more." Misty eventually said, her eyes blazing with unkempt fury.

"Give us your pokémon, or they'll just go to Team Rocket." Brock said.

"Either way, they'll be in much safer hands than a little kid like yourself." Iris backed up. All three fingered their pokéballs and Ash stepped back, Pikachu sparking and growling on his shoulder.

There was a stand off, three versus one and neither stand was willing to break the gaze. The forest was quiet; the only sound was the crackling of electricity.

_RUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUN! _Both voices yelled in unison, but another, small voice spoke to Ash out of the clamour, this one so much like his own, yet different in the maturity and confidence.

_I can take them. _He thought and the voices instantly shut up.

_But at what cost? _The gentler of the two voices asked and Ash turned from his former friends.

"I'd never give you my pokémon." He said, shrugging and beginning to walk away.

Iris was livid as she released her dragonite. "Ash Ketchum, you get back here now!" She yelled. Brock released his geodude and Misty her starmie.

Ash just continued walking, nearing the edge of the clearing. His mind was clear now; everything had been building up to it for a while now. His pokémon had been acting weird, there were those strange voices in his head and he had had dreams about this exact thing ever since he got back to Kanto.

_Thunk._

Ash turned just in time to dodge the stone thrown at the back of his head, where it hit the tree instead. "What now?" He asked them coolly, feeling disconnected from his emotions.

For some reason, they all seemed scared of him as Pikachu jumped from his shoulder to the ground on front of him. "Is there something on my face?" He asked his oldest friend, who stared up at Ash in awe.

"What the hell? Dragonite, use flamethrower!" Iris yelled, both fear and anger evident on her features.

"Pikachu, use-" Ash began, but Pikachu started his attack before Ash could even call it.

_Too late... _The gentler voice eventually said. Pikachu let off a powerful thunderbolt to rival that of his opponent's attack and the two held it, Dragon versus Electric, eyes never looking away from each other. Dragonite growled as Pikachu pushed forward a couple of inches with his thunderbolt, before suddenly smirking.

"Pikachu, look out!" Ash yelled, but it was too late. Dragonite flew away as a huge load of rocks crash down on top of the exhausting Pikachu, leaving a cloud of dust and cries of pain in its wake.

"Now, give us the rest of your pokémon and we'll go easy on you." Misty said cruelly as she stood next to Brock and his Steelix. Brock looked coldly upon the scene, but still spoke in a 'soothing' voice.

"We don't want to hurt you, Ash. Think of what's best for your pokémon." He said in a manner which only seemed to aggravate the shocked trainer, who had fallen to his knees in front of the pile of rocks.

"What's gotten into you guys?!" Ash yelled, trying to pull away the heavy boulders.

"We're just sick of _you_! You're an idiot who can't even beat a league and you put all of us in danger every day!" Iris yelled, backing away behind Dragonite when Ash turned to stare at her.

"Ash, just do as we say! Give us your pokémon and go find another dream or whatever, just don't drag us or your pokémon through danger again! Everything will be fine." Misty pleaded, trying to look sincere.

_Bullshit. _The Ash-voice said, followed by the same sentiments from the female ones.

"Bullshit." Ash repeated, surprised by his own mouth as he slumped, hands falling from the rocks that wouldn't budge. "Just... Go away." He then said, voice low with pain.

"Not until we..." Iris trailed off as Ash turned to fully glare at the three of them, anger pulsing through his body.

"Leave it, Iris. He'll come around eventually." Brock assured the girl, and him and Misty recalled their pokémon before climbing onto Iris' Dragonite behind the younger girl.

As soon as the trio were gone, Ash renewed his attempts with vigour, calling out his best friend's name as his hands tugged at rock. As the adrenaline in his systems pumped away his arms began to feel heavier and heavier, like jelly before he suddenly slumped over, hitting his head on the rock pile and knocking himself unconscious in the process.

* * *

He woke to a bright light as something nudged him. _Wake up._ The same voice as the first stated as he groaned, his head resting on something soft. _Seriously, wake up!_

Ash groggily opened his eyes to realise that the soft thing he was resting on was feathers and that he was miles up in the air. "Whaaah!" He yelled out, suddenly finding himself off balance on the large flying type's back. "Who are you?!"

The pokémon turned it's head towards him and he was faced with two pupil-less pale blue eyes. _Good. You're awake, _it said _How's your face? It looks sore._

"My face...?" Ash began, before suddenly flinching and putting a hand to his cheek. "Ow. What happened?" He asked, the side of his face suddenly stinging.

_One sec. Head down. _The large pokémon said, making Ash blink. His stomach seemed to replace his heart as they suddenly went on a nosedive towards the ground, and instinctively grabbed onto the smoke-like collar of downy feathers around the bird's neck so as to not end up in a human splatter on the forest ground metres below.

He only opened his eyes when he realised that they were not only horizontal again, but also on the ground. Something that suspiciously sounded like a snicker came from the pokémon's throat as he cautiously swung himself off, still clinging tight to it's neck as his toes touched the ground, followed by the soles of his feet.

_As funny and innocent as you look right now, I really need you to remember so we can talk to you properly. _The bird said, then nodded to something in the tree line. A large, majestic deer-like pokémon emerged and nodded to the pokémon beside Ash.

_Yveltal. _It said in the same calm, gentle voice as before.

_Xerneas. _Yveltal said in a different, less harsh tone. Ash's mouth gaped open in awe as he looked between the two, but his expression changed to that of worry once he spotted what was on Xerneas' back.

"Pikachu!" The trainer cried as he rushed over and lifted the limp mouse pokémon from the deer's graceful back. Xerneas craned it's neck down and nuzzled against the side of Ash's face. As the pain on his jawline faded, so did the fog on his memories. Ash fell to his knees and clutched his best friend to his chest.

"Pikachu..." Ash moaned out, tears dripping down his face and cutting clear tracks through the blood that matted his raven hair, his hat lost somewhere some time ago. "He's not breathing..." He then looked up at the two pokémon with a pleading look in his eyes.

Xerneas looked back with a gentle expression in it's blue eyes, x-shaped pupils softening at the heartbroken look on his features.

_He's dead._ Yveltal said bluntly, eliciting an angry glare from the gentle deer and a surprised one from the broken trainer. Yveltal looked away, distinctly embarrassed as she pulled at her feather collar with a talon-ended wing.

_What she's trying to say is that he's dead for _now_. _Xerneas quickly chimed in, confusing the poor boy even more. _We have a proposition for you._

_Using Xerneas' powers, we can easily bring your friend back to life, but we have several conditions. Ones that you may not like_. Yveltal explained.

"Whatever it is, I'll do it." Ash promised and Xerneas looked at him gently.

_I am afraid that you may not like our conditions, _Xerneas began. _I will bring him back, but you will have to leave him. _She told him.

"What? Why would I have to leave him?"

_When Xerneas restores his life, I will simultaneously use my powers of destruction to erase his memories of the past 24 hours. He will wake up in the woodlands all alone, thinking that you left him. _Yveltal explained. Ash opened his mouth in some sort of retort, but Xerneas cut across him.

_Before you question us, I must tell you this. You will return to your hometown and collect all of your possessions, including any pokémon you do not wish to part with-sans your pikachu, of course. _

"But _why_?" Ash asked again, relentless in his pursuit of proper answers.

_You want to be the _best_, right? To prove that you are, in fact, worth it? We can help you become stronger. Your friend Pikachu will be really weak and confused, so it's best if you leave him behind. _Yveltal suddenly let out eagerly.

_If you were to take him with you, he would not be able to train and would soon be far behind your other pokemon. However, anger is often a miracle worker. There is a chance that, if he feels that as if he has been abandoned, or 'betrayed', he will become far stronger on his own and his recovery will be in full. _Xerneas elaborated.

Ash looked down at the still pikachu in his arms, swallowed, then looked up at the two. "Okay. Do it. Help Pikachu." He finally agreed.

* * *

"And that's what happened." Ash finished recounting (minus a few choice parts).

Delia looked horrified. "That's horrible!" She said, one hand over her mouth whilst the other stroked the sleeping Pikachu.

"Yeah, it is. But that doesn't explain how you got that scar on your face." Gary chimed in. Ash actually _blushed _at this comment.

"Uh, y'see... I kinda cut my my face open when I hit my head on those rocks. I wish it was something cooler, but..."

"Oops." Yvonne effectively summed up.

"Well, I'm just glad my baby boy's back!" Delia said, tears of joy streaming down her face for the 20th time in an hour.

* * *

**Well... This was probably a sucky chapter to end and 8-month absence with, huh... **

**Oh well! As Yvonne said, oops! I really have no excuse for this. I've literally been on holiday since June, and I'm being awkward and updating at the end of the holidays, just days before I start college and my 2! paid jobs, so my evenings and weekends are going to be fun, huh... Well, this new timetable has introduced something foreign to me: free periods! And, as I am a loner and have no friends, I can write then. Yay!**

**I will try to update faster (way faster) than before, and check out my new pokemon one-shot, Mid-nigh in not-so-wonderland, an AU based off of my other fic, Secrets of a Hidden Aura Guardian, or as I affectionately refer to it, SHAG. I'll actually try to update that one next...**

**Anyway, follow, favourite, and please review and tell me whether you want me to go back and edit my other chapters to spell-check and stuff, or to just ignore it and write more!**

**~Jinseiwakurai-Shouganai, signing out!**


End file.
